[FEMS Microbes via PubMed] Considering the harsh surface conditions on Mars, terrestrial organisms that can survive and remain detectable after exposure to similar conditions provide invaluable models for guiding current […]
Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Concurrent Phosphite Oxidation And Adenosine Phosphorylation Under Prebiotic Evaporative Conditions
[Journal of Molecular Evolution] Here, we investigate the concurrent oxidation of phosphite and phosphorylation/phosphonylation of adenosine under prebiotically plausible conditions.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Emergence Of Biosignatures On Earth And Implications For Life Detection
[PNAS] Earth’s organic chemical evolution (OCE) from abiotic to prebiotic to biotic provides critical insights that may have implications for how we interpret observations made by life-detection planetary missions.
Posted inAstrochemistry
Dust And Water Found Around The Milky Way’s Central Black Hole
[ESA] The new observations provide the most detailed mid-infrared view yet of the highly evolved star IRS 3, which is located just 0.55 light-years from Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way […]
Posted inPhobos
Infrared-to-visible Albedo Ratio Of Phobos: Comparison With Primitive Asteroids
[astro-ph.EP] Aims. The ratio between infrared and visible albedo, pIR/pV, provides a simple proxy for the spectral slope of asteroid surfaces between the visible and near-infrared wavelength ranges. The aim […]
![Mapping of the science cases proposed by the Science Working Groups (center) to the questions and discovery areas identified by Astro2020 (left and right). The transparencies of the lines indicate the number of connections with darker lines indicating stronger links between the SWG and the Astro2020 topic. -- [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Early-Exploration.png?resize=1200%2C711&ssl=1)
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
Early Exploration Of The Scientific Discovery Space For The Habitable Worlds Observatory
[astro-ph.IM] The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is a future NASA flagship mission concept identified by the Astro2020 Decadal Survey as the highest priority for large space missions. HWO should conduct […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Astrochemistry: A Cosmic Recycling System In Action In The Helix Nebula
[Northwestern University] An international team of scientists, including Northwestern University astrophysicists, has captured an unprecedented view of a dying star’s remains in the act of being recycled.
![Representative spectral energy distribution fits for four HWO ExEP target stars: HD 2151 (upper left), HD 3651 A (upper right), HD 4813 (lower left), and HD 10700 (lower right). In each panel, the solid curve represents the best-fitting Pickles (1998) template spectrum, and the filled circles show the broadband photometry with associated uncertainties. Photometric error bars are shown in the y-direction, and filter widths in the x-direction. Fractional residuals between the template flux averaged over each bandpass and the literature photometry are shown in the lower sub-panels. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Spectral-Energy.png?resize=1200%2C716&ssl=1)
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
Spectral Energy Distribution Analysis For Habitable Worlds Observatory Target Stars
[astro-ph.EP] The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will directly image and characterize planets potentially similar to Earth orbiting nearby stars.
![Observed spectra compared to laboratory data for CO (left), 13CO2 (middle), and H2O (right) ices on carbonaceous dust analogs. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Molecule-specific.png?resize=1200%2C606&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
Molecule-specific Diffusion And Desorption Of Interstellar Ices On Carbonaceous Dust
[astro-ph.GA] Interstellar ices form on dust grains in the coldest regions of molecular clouds and preserve key volatile reservoirs that could be incorporated into protoplanetary disks during star and planet […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry
Chemically Modified Sugars As Multifunctional Precursors For Direct, Template-Free Synthesis Of Nanoporous Carbonaceous Materials
[JACS] Carbonaceous solids with pores in the nanometer domain are of great technological importance owing to their amenability to sorption/separation, catalysis, and electrochemical applications.